Poultry feeder



E. LEWIS POULTRY FEEDER June 30, 1953 4 SheetsSheet 1 Filed Aug. 18,1950 E. LEWIS POULTRY FEEDER June 30, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug.18, 1950 E. LEWIS POULTRY FEEDER June 30, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 FiledAug. 18. 1950 22m" Zaazs' 3 E. LEWIS POULTRY FEEDER June 30, 1953 4Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 18, 1950 Q Q Q 3, illustrating the structuraldetail;

Patented June 30,1953

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE POULTRY FEEDER Elmer Lewis, Eustis, Fla.

Application August 18, 1950, Serial No. 180,198

12 Claims. 1

The present application is a continuation-inpart of my application ofAugust 31, 1945, Serial Number 613,912 for a Poultry Feeder whichmatured into Patent No. 2,543,916 dated-March 6, 1951.

This invention relates to poultry feeders and the like, and a principalobject of the invention is to provide a feeder unit of novel formadaptable for use with similar units in a poultry house to afford aninterior arrangement of highly desirable characteristics as hereinafterdescribed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a feeder unit and assemblywhich will prevent the fowl from roosting above said feeder.

Still another important object is to provide a feeder unit and assemblyof the aforesaid character exhibiting a simplified and relativelyinexpensive structural form.

To this end the invention contemplates a feeder unit adapted to besupported in principal part by suspension from an available superstructure under which the unit may be installed to thereby avoidnecessity for including a support structure in the unit itself.

A further object is to provide a feeder unit comprising hopper andtrough elements, as hereinafter more fully set forth, wherein the saidelements are designed and relatively disposed so as to effectivelypreclude injury to the feeding fowl.

The invention resides also in certain novel and advantageous structuralfeatures hereinafter described and illustrated in the attached drawingswherein:

to illustrate the normal position of the feed material;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational View of a modified form of feeder unitshowing the unit in alined assembly with similar units;

- Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is aperspective View of one of the elements of the feeder;

Fig. 7 is a side elevational view of another embodiment of my inventionin normal position;

Fig. 8 is an end elevational view of the embodiment illustrated in Fig.7;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary perspective view of said embodiment.

With reference to the drawings, the embodiment of the inventionillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises a feeder, consisting essentiallyof a shallow receptacle or a trough base member I, a feed hopper member2, and a wall portion 3 V constituting partition means suspended from aridge pole 4 of the superstructure of a poultry pan. The feed hopper 2consists of end walls 5 and 5a, side walls 6 and 1, and cover elements 8and 9 hinged to the sidewalls asillustrated. The hopper is suspendedfrom the ridge pole 4 through the medium in the present instance offixed solid wall portion 3, eyelets l0 and H, suspension rods l2, [3, aneyelet [4 in the upper part of the end wall 4, and a similar eyelet (notshown) in the opposite end wall of the hopper, the lower end of thehopper being in loose engagement with trough member I so as to benormally spaced-apart from the sides of the member I. The connecting rodI2 is in three sections. The top section [6 is bent to form a hook- I!at one end for engagement with eyelet It, and is threaded at the otherend for engagement with turnbuckle I8 which constitutes the secondsection of the connecting rod. The bottom section IQ of the said rod issimilarly threaded for engagement with the turnbuckle I8 and is formedwith a hook 20 for engagement with eyelet l4. Connecting rod 13 is ofthe same conformation as rod l2.

The mode of operation of the feeder described above is as follows:

The feed material is dumped into the top of the feed hopper opened bythe rotation of either cover member 8 or 9 about its hinges. Thematerial tends to fiow out from the bottom of the hopper into the troughI. The quantity of the feed which will enter the trough in the initialfeeding operation will be determined by the distance of the lower end ofthe hopper from the bottom of the trough, said distance being adjustableby manipulation of the turnbuckles of connecting rods [2 and I3. Thus,when the quantity of feed in'the trough rises to a point where itentirely closes the space between the lower end of the hopper and thebottom of the trough, the flow of feed from the hopper is automaticallyinterrupted. As the feed is withdrawn by the poultry, additionalquantities will pass downwardly from the hopper into the trough tomaintain a constant supply in the latter.

Particular attention is directed to the form of hopper which has beenformed to possess marked free flowing characteristics and which lacksany pronounced tendency of the feed material to jam between the walls ofthe hopper in a manner to prevent the free passage of the feed materialto the trough. It is to be noted further that the hopper is suspended ina manner which makes it highly susceptible to movement by even lightpressures exerted at the lower end, this by reason of the fact that theeyelets l4 and I5 are located above and very slightly displaced from thecenter of gravity C. It is noted also that the trough has pairs ofinward projections or stops, 2| and 22 respectively, at each endpositioned in proximity to the side walls of the hopper adjacent to itslower end whereby slight displacement of said end will bring it intocontact with said stops. Such movement of the hopper. which may beeffected by contact with the lower end thereof of the feeding poultry,and the slight jars occurring as a result of the hoppers contact withthe stops will also tend to preclude stoppage by the jamming of thenormal flow of feed. material to the trough.

It will be noted further that in a poultry feeder of this construction,with the cover members 8 and 9 in closed position to form the upper faceof the hopper as illustrated, the poultry are prevented from roostingatop or above said feeder whereby it may be maintained in a clean,dirtfree condition and with the feed free from contamination. The covers8 and 9 also close the spaces between the lower extremity of thepartition and the top end of the hopper member.

A modified form of feeder involving the-same principles as thatdescribed above is illustrated in Figs. 3 to 6 inclusive. In this casethe hopper member 29 is suspended from the ridge pole 4 of the pensuperstructure through the medium of hooks 25 and 29; elongated tensionelements, in the present instance, rods 21 and 28; connecting rods 23and 24; and eyelets at the opposite ends of the hopper (of which one isshown at 30) into loose engagement at its lower end with a shallowreceptacle consisting of a trough base member 3i so as to be normallyspacedapart from the sides of the member 3|. In this embodiment of theinvention the fixed wall portion 3 in Figs. 1 and 2 has been replaced bywire mesh or an suitable netting 32 held in place by the interlacing ofrods 21' and 23 along interstices of said mesh. This modification hasthe advantage of allowing greater circulation of air and greatervisibility when using the feeder as one of a series to form a partitionin the poultry house as illustrated in Fig. 3.

A second modification embodied in F-igs. 3 to 6 inclusive is theformation of trough member 3|. This trough has at its ends pairs ofinward projections in the form of inwardly projecting flanges 33 and 34,which lie at opposite sides of the lower portion of the hopper 29 andwhich limit the lateral displacement of said hopper.

It will be noted that in this form of the invention the eyelet 30, andthe corresponding eyelet (not shown) at the opposite end of the hopper,

projects inwardly from the. upper part of the end walls of the hopper inclose proximity to and above the center of gravity C thereof so thatwhen two or more units are placed end to end as illustrated in Fig. 3,the end walls may lie in close proximity whereby an inexpensive andmobile partition of the poultry house is provided.

7 The trough 3| is formed with sides 35 and 36 inclined outward at anangle with the vertical '4 greater than the angles of sides 23a and 2912with the vertical. The upward divergence of sides 35 and 36 of thetrough and sides 29a and 29b of the hopper respectively avoids lossesdue to the fowl becoming lodged between the hopper and the trough withthe resulting fatal injury.

Another application of the principle of the invention is shown in Figs.7 to 10 inclusive illustrating a shallow receptacle in the form of awatering pan 31 with cover member 38, wire mesh Thewatering pan 3?,generally cylindrical in shape, constitutes a base member and is coveredby cover member 38 whose configuration is that of an inverted cone 40with uard plate 4] rigidly attached thereto. The guard plate is providedwith vertical end faces and is perforated along its upper edge withopenings 42 and 43 through which the rope or cable suspension members 44and 45 are looped and secured at 46 and 4? respectively. Within saidloops are inserted hook members 48 and 49 the function of which will bedescribed hereinafter. Cover member 38 is normally suspended in spacedrelation above pan 31 at a distance to permit the fowl to insert onlyits head into the pan. The cables 44 and 45 are threaded into andsupport the wire mesh 39 so that the latter presents a barrier to theroosting of the poultry atop the watering pan. The edge of the mesh isflush with the vertical end faces of the guide plate, and when abuttedagainst similar units the mesh and plate present a barrier tothe passageof the poultry from one side thereof to the other. It should be notedthat the upper face of the member 38 is inclined to prevent the poultryfrom roosting thereon.

To afford ready access to the watering pan for cleaning or removal andto permit passage from one side of the poultry house to the other whenthe feeding and watering units are assembled in line, the cover member38 of the watering pan may be raised and hooked into the interstices ofthe wire mesh 39 with hooks 48 and 49, as illustrated in Fig. 9, and thepan 37 may or may not be moved. to permit said passage.

I claim:

1. In a poultry pen having a superstructure, a feeder unit consisting ofa portable shallow receptacle constituting a base member for dispensingthe feed to the poultry; a second member suspended independently aboveand in alinement with said base member, the lower end of said secondmember being spaced from the sides of the receptacle at such a distanceto permit the fowl to insert their heads into the feeding receptacle,yet close enough to exclude the entry of any other portions of theirbody, the upper face of said second member being inclined to prevent thefowl from roosting thereon and being substantially coextensive with the.base; suspension means extending vertically from. the upper part of thesecond member to the superstructure of the pen; and partition means inoperative association with said suspension means and extendingsubstantially continuously from the top of the second member to the saidsuperstructure to afford with said member an effective division of thespace within the pen separating one side of the feeder unit from theother side.

2. A device according to claim 1 whereinthe partition means is a solidwall portion and constitutes a functional element of the suspensionmeans.

3. A device according to claim 1 wherein the suspension means includeselongated tension elements constituting also a support for the partitionmeans.

4. A device according to claim 3 wherein a mesh is supported upon saidsuspension means to form the partition means.

5. A device according to' claim 4 wherein the tension elements areflexible, hooks being provided at the lower ends thereof for engagementwith the mesh whereby the second member may be raised and held inelevated position by engagement of said hooks with the mesh.

6. In a device according to claim 1 wherein the outer end faces of thesecond member are vertical and flat and the edge of the partition meansis flush with said end faces adapting the unit for arrangement incontiguous end-.to-end relation with other like units to form anextended substantially continuous feeder structure.

7. A device according to claim .1 wherein the second member is a feedhopper with a discharge opening at the lower end, and having at the topend displaceable covers for the admittance of feed material to thehopper.

8. In a device according to claim 7 where the cover member in a closedposition closes the space between the top end of said second member andthe partition means.

9. In a poultry feeder according to claim 8 wherein the means forsuspending the hopper includes eyelet members attached above and inclose proximity to'the center of gravity of the hopper whereby thehopper may oscillate with the eyelet members as pivots.

10. In a poultry feeder according to claim 9 wherein the base member isa trough with inward projections to limit the said oscillations of thehopper to small angular displacements.

11. In a poultry feeder according to claim 10 wherein within thesuspension means is incorporated means for adjusting the height of thehopper in relation to the trough.

12. A device according to claim 1 wherein the base member is in the formof a shallow upright cylinder and the second member is a coveringelement having the conformation of an inverted cone with plates extendedvertically outwardly from said cone soas to give the cover element asubstantially rectangular outline in the vertical plane.

ELMER LEWIS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 11,592 Abbe Aug. 29, 1854 486,508 Scudder Nov. 22, 18921,527,653 Katter Feb. 24, 1925 1,693,113 Hampel Nov. 27, 1928 1,922,435Harris Aug. 15, 1933 2,267,883 Wood Dec. 30, 1941 2,429,777 Smith Oct.28, 1947 2,543,916 Lewis Mar. 6, 1951 2,591,126 Brick, Jr Apr. 1, 1952

